The SPARTAN of Mira (Cancelled for rewrite)
by RWBYsoul5
Summary: Noble Six was an interesting SPARTAN, to say the least, so what happens when said SPARTAN ends up on the planet of Mira and has to fight a similar war to the one he died in. AN: Edits will occur over time. Will deviate from cannon (kind of) (This story is going through a massive rewrite, this story is dead)
1. Noble Six Profle

**AN: This will loosely follow the Halo and Xenoblade X cannon. So in other words, I know that some of these things are not cannon**

 **Accessing ONI Database….**

 **What would you like to research today?**

 **[** **Noble Six]**

 **Accessing….**

 **Two files found.**

 **Playing audio file…**

 **[Doctor Halsey is narrating]**

" **Noble Six, a SPARTAN-lll who's past has been shrouded in black ink, until now. With the war over secrets no longer need to be kept. This secret weapon of the UNSC has long since been forgotten, just like the other SPARTAN-lll's. While I still don't truly accept most of them, Noble Six was different.**

 **Martin Wolf began life on Harvest, and as a result it wasn't long until his illusion of peace was broken by the covenant. He was only six when his adoptive mother was killed and while there is no evidence to prove this, it's said that he was rescued by an ODST. After that tragedy, Martin Wolf, at the age of Six, enlisted to help fight the covenant. When I first saw him I thought that he would break under the pressure, I did not think he would survive because he was just too 'human'. He would behave and follow orders to perfection but unlike my SPARTANS he would have conversations with others.**

 **At the age of 8 Martin Wolf was brought into the SPARTAN-lll program or as I liked to call them 'Cheap knock offs'. Trading lives for time, that was the purpose of these SPARTANS, but once again, Martin was different. Even after the augmentation implants and rigorous training he retained some, if not most of his humanity and unlike most, continued to survive. However that all changed after his first handler.**

 **I will not mention the name of the handler as he should be forgotten unlike Martin. Martin was used as a pet, doing the dirty work of a man who didn't have the guts to do it himself. After 3 years ONI caught wind of this and sent a team to dispose of the handler, only to find him dead, shot by the SPARTAN who finally thought for himself. After this Martin wasn't the same. He grew distant and this is where his lone wolf nature showed itself, that was when I met him for the second time. His attitude began to reflect that of my SPARTANS, serious, stoic, and focused. Despite my initial hatred of the 3's I grew to respect him when I took him under my wing, dare I say I was proud of him. Strangely he requested an ODST helmet when he earned his MJOLNIR armor. I didn't understand at first but when he began to work with them on some assignments I quickly found out why. He, despite being a SPARTAN and a lone wolf still looked up to the hell jumpers. They were even surprised by his respect as ODST's always had this rivalry with the SPARTANS.**

 **After the final days with the ODST'S he became SPARTAN B-312.**

 **After several years of solo missions, SPARTAN B-312 was reassigned to NOBLE team on planet Reach. The story after that is predictable. The New Noble Six fought well and did everything that was asked of him. Even as his squad fell, even when he had the opportunity to live to fight another day, he gave everything to defend humanity. He had delivered humanity's hope in the form of the AI Cortana. Then he proceeded to live up to his name and his nature, and so the lone wolf was left alone on Reach.**

 **His body, armor, all burned down and turned to glass, except his courage, that he gave to us, and with it we were able to rebuild.**

 **...**

…

 **But as they say… SPARTANS never die, they're just missing in action.**

 **File end**

 **Opening second file…**

 **Name: Martin Wolf**

 **Age: 27**

 **Armor**

 **Helmet: ODST Base**

 **Left shoulder: GUNGNIR**

 **Right shoulder: GUNGNIR**

 **Chest: Default**

 **Wrist: Default**

 **knee guards: FJ/Para**

 **Visor color: Silver**

 **Armor primary color: Blue**

 **Armor Secondary color: Blue**

 **Emblem: Wolf (blue background and white foreground)**

 **Preferred Primary weapon: Any**

 **Preferred Secondary weapon: Any**

 **Status: M.I.A**

 **Final note: Despite being a lone wolf, Noble Six was more than capable of working with others and treated everyone as equals. This gained him respect from marines and ODST's**

 **AN: So I thought I would give my Noble Six a backstory to start this story. Now I don't plan to follow Xenoblade X's story completely because I'm going to be honest, I've never played Xenoblade X but I've seen enough to know what I'm talking about. Anyway this exists so I could practice writing something that has nothing to do with RWBY or call of duty. Uploads will be random. With all that said I hope you guys find this at least interesting.**


	2. Chapter 1: Valhalla

**Valhalla**

 **AN: I have made changes to the profile so be sure to read it again**

I looked over my helmet one more time to make sure there was no damage. I stared into the silver visor which reflected my ember colored eyes back at me, the eyes no one but those closest to me ever got to see. I put on my helmet to complete my armor set. Even after a couple of years of being dead, it's like I never took off the armor at all. I walked to my weapon locker and pulled out my M6G magnum and MA37 ICWS Assault Rifle before looking my self over one last time.

'Okay Martin, one more thing left to do.' I exited the massive armory and began to look for the one familiar face I had left, it didn't take long to find him as he was the only SPARTAN that had a skull carved onto his visor. He was sharpening his knife against his armor for the millionth time when I approached him.

"Hey Emile"

"Sup lieutenant, you got something to tell me?"

"How'd you know?"

"Normally if you wanted to talk to someone you'd talk to the big man or the boss… heh, but I guess you're out of luck now"

'The big man', the title Emile gave to Jorge, I couldn't blame him, Jorge stood 7 feet tall, but that was due to him being a SPARTAN 2. Despite that he was the most human out of all of us and the easiest to talk too. The boss was Carter, fitting name because he perfectly fit a leadership role, I should know, he was my boss too. They had already left Valhalla, Kat as well, which left just Emile and I, but I was okay with that.

"I still see you as a brother Emile, I hope you know that."

"Aw come on Six, don't tell me you're going soft now." I could tell from his tone of voice that he wasn't actually offended.

"Not even close you crazy bastard, but I did need to tell you something."

"let me guess, you got a second chance contract and have already accepted it so now you're saying goodbye."

I wasn't even sure if I was supposed to be surprised or not. Even though Emile was a psycho he knew me well enough to know what was going to be said before a sentence was spoken.

"Yes and No. Yes I have gotten a second chance contract and accepted it but I'm not here to just say goodbye. I was actually hoping that you could help me before I leave"

Emile hesitated a bit "Look Six, I'm not one who gives good advice"

"No I meant do you still have the blueprints that Kat gave you before she left?"

"Oh, yeah here you go." He handed me a data chip which I placed into the back of my helmet.

"Thanks"

"No problem but now it's my turn to ask you something"

"Shoot"

"I know we're not allowed to talk about contracts in detail but the others told me what their mission was like, I just want to know what my brother in arms is going to be up too."

"I can't tell you much but it's very similar to the war we left. In other words I'll be defending humanity from an army of aliens" I could see Emile tense up and curl his hands into fists before I added "It's not the covenant"

"They're still alien freaks!" I put a hand on Emile to calm him down a bit.

"And I'll make sure to deliver the message Emile." He grabbed me and made sure I was looking him in the eyes, visor, whatever.

"Listen Six, do me a favor, wherever you go, you make sure the freaks realize who they're fucking with. In other words, kill a few dozen for me, clear?"

"Clear" he let go of me and I continued "I know you're not one for goodbyes Emile so I won't say it. What I will say is that I'm gonna miss having you on my team"

He scoffed "That's almost as bad as saying goodbye" he said sarcastically before chuckling a little "It's been fun Six" he extended a hand which I gladly took before pulling him into a quick hug.

"Yeah, it has. Take care Emile."

"You too" I turned to leave but Emile then called out "oh, one more thing" I turned to face him.

"Yeah?"

"The boss wanted me to remind you of the first order he ever gave you, in case you ever left this place"

I tried to remember what that order was until Emile answered for me.

"Something about leaving your 'lone wolf stuff behind'"

"Understood"

"Hey man, I don't care what you do, as long you kill some alien bastards"

I nodded and walked off to the front gate. I took one last look at the surrounding forests and mountains, never bothering to look back at the camp.

 _That lone wolf stuff stays behind, clear?_

The order repeated in my head one last time before I said to no one in particular "Got it sir" I opened the gate and stepped into the light, entering my second life.


	3. Chapter 2: The last bastion of hope

**The last bastion of hope**

 **[Halo spawn sound]**

 **. . . –**

When my sight returned to me I was greeted by rain drops and a sprawling green field. In the distance I could see multiple rock formations that formed massive hills and mountains. Lightning flashed across the sky, briefly lighting the area before darkness reigned again. I turned on my night vision and pulled out my rifle.

'Ok, if I remember correctly, the contract said this humanity only has one safe haven, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.' With an objective to complete I set into this brave new world.

The rain began to lighten up as I approached a cliff side. I took one look down and only saw blackness. I stepped back away from the ledge and that's when then sun came out. I turned off my night vision as the rays illuminated the entire area. My motion tracker began to flair and I quickly readied myself. Suddenly a massive creature with a hammer head front and a dinosaur like structure. Several more strange creatures flew over my head and in the distance I could see a massive metal wall with a U.S flag on it.

'Jackpot' I looked around and found a rock bridge that led across the gap. It didn't take long to reach the outer wall and up close the walls looked even bigger than I originally thought. 'Hopefully this humanity will stand a better chance than mine did.' The sound of growling made me snap to attention and my motion tracker show 5 red dots. Looking around I saw 5 big wolf like creatures, one even howled. I opened fire with the assault rifle which tore apart one of them before I was even halfway through the mag. The others began to charge me. I fired the rest of the mag into the first one that charged before pulling out the magnum and finishing it off. The last 3 tried to surround me, however that didn't last because one of them went down with one shot to the face. I put away the magnum and pulled out my knife and charged the creature. It leaped in an attempt to knock me down, realizing this, I slid under the attack and jumped on its back instead. I jammed the knife into its neck several times, leaving just one left. It attempted to jump me while I got off his friend only for me to throw a right hook which sent it flying. While it was staggered I stabbed its neck, finishing my first encounter.

'Well, I guess the wild life isn't too friendly' I flicked the blood off my knife and reloaded my weapons before another blip came up on the tracker. I instantly turned and had my weapon trained on the new contact.

"Whoa! Easy there, I'm not your enemy!" the contact was a woman with dark skin ,white hair, and blue eyes. She wore red and blue armor and carried two rifles. I lowered my weapon when I realized she was human. She began to approach once she realized that I meant her no harm.

"Nice work taking down those grexes, they were starting to become a problem"

I nodded in affirmation

"My name is Elma, who are you?"

I saluted and responded "Lieutenant SPARTAN B-312, Noble Six. Call me Lieutenant, SPARTAN, or Six." She looked slightly confused.

"SPARTAN? Are you a type of soldier?"

"Yes ma'am" she nodded and smiled

"Good, we could use more soldiers. I was out looking for survivors from the crash but it looks like you found us. Come on, let's get inside the city."

I followed behind Elma as she led us to an elevator. I holstered my Assault Rifle as the elevator made its way up.

"I know you just got here but I have to ask, how'd you get out of your pod? Usually they have to be opened from the outside." Elma asked and I responded with a lie.

"My pod was damaged to the point where I could get myself out" she looked suspicious at first but then she seemed to buy it.

"Well it's good that you didn't die in that pod, most people weren't so lucky" she said with some defeat in her tone. The elevator reached its destination and we exited. I followed behind as she approached a massive balcony. It was only then that I realized that we could see the entire city. I was surprised to see that it wasn't just a military base but an actual city. In the distance I could see houses and a park as well as an area with a massive tower displaying percentage numbers. I could also see what looked like a hanger and mechs flying in and out of it. Elma seemed to lose herself in the sight before turning back to me.

"We named it after the city it was designed from, this is New Los Angeles. It's not much at the moment but it's our last bastion of hope, welcome home Six." She said with a bit if a sad smile. I nodded before turning my attention to the Tower I saw earlier as the numbers had been replaced by a broadcast of a man who looked to be in his early 40's and was addressing the city.

"Attention citizens of New LA, this is your director general Maurice Chausson I'm pleased to announce that our people of BLADE have been able to locate 10 more white whale crew members. They will be integrated into society and-" I tuned out the rest of the speech because I could tell right away that he was lying. I had to read people who were far better liars so catching his lie was easy.

"Director general? Since when?" Elma asked no one in particular

"Since 2 days ago ma'am" a woman responded. We turned to see two soldiers approaching us, one was a blonde woman and the other was a brown haired man. They both looked like the same height but I towered over all of them.

"Irina, Gwin" Elma acknowledged both as they saluted her.

"Colonel" Irina said which caused me to salute Elma as well.

"At ease, all of you" I dropped the salute and turned my attention back to Irina and Gwin as Elma began to introduce us. "Six, this is Irina Akulov and Gwin Evans . We used to be part of a skeleton crew back on earth. Irina is lieutenant like you and Gwin is one of our newer members"

"With all do respect ma'am, why do you call him Six?" Irina asked

"He said that he's lieutenant SPARTAN B-312, Noble Six, he told me to call him lieutenant, SPARTAN, or Six. I chose Six" Elma responded. Irina looked skeptical and Gwin just looked confused.

"Is that your code name?" Gwin asked to which I simply nodded. Not even Noble Team ever learned my real name. "Well you can call me Mr Evans or just Gwin"

"You can call me Irina, lieutenant" she saluted which I returned. She then turned to Elma "Good work out there Colonel, I'm assuming the lieutenant is one of the survivors."

"The survivor and I didn't actually find him, he found us." The colonel responded

"What about 10 other survivors?" Gwin asked oblivious to the lie that was broadcast.

"Pfft, please, the new director general would never let the truth get in the way of a good speech." Irina said before turning back to Elma "We better get back to work now, colonel" she gave one last salute before both her and Gwin walked away. Elma chuckled lightly.

"I'd tell them that the ranks and ma'am's aren't necessary if I thought they'd listen." She said

"It's a sign of respect ma'am, that's all" I said

"Irina told me the same thing. Come, lets get you to the administrative district, you need to be registered into the system before you can do anything." I nodded and followed her to another elevator which led us down into the city streets. As we walked the sky began to go dark, signaling the end of the day here on this foreign planet

 **AN: Lets me know if I misspelled some of the names, I'm going off memory here. I'm heading into senior year so i had to cut this chapter short.**


	4. Chapter 3: Getting acquainted

**Getting acquainted**

Elma and I weren't walking in peace for long as my attention turned to the sky. One of the flying mechs I saw earlier was smoking in the air and crashed not too far away. I immediately sprinted to the crash site, leaving Elma behind. As I was running I began to hear a car with a familiar engine creep up on me. I paid it no mind as I kept running. It didn't take long to get to the downed mech and I began to look for a release lever for the cockpit. I pulled the yellow and black caution lever and the cockpit canopy hissed from depressurization before flying off. The pilot, who was in full gear, pulled the helmet off in frustration before throwing it at a nearby fence revealing a white male with a military hair cut.

"Damnit!" he grunted before turning to me. He was confused and hesitant at first but then said "Thanks… for getting me out" I nodded. The vehicle from earlier caught up and the driver was a young girl with a white outfit and black hair. What surprised me is how young she looked as she began to examine the mech. She couldn't have been more than 15 if that. 'Then again, I was six when I started training, who am I to judge'. The pilot then turned to the girl and began to explain his problem. As he was doing that, Elma finally arrived and began to speak.

"It's not like you to flub a flight check Lin" she said to the young girl who I assumed was an engineer.

"Yeah… that doesn't usually happen" Lin replied rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. Elma simply shook her head while smiling, even the pilot seemed to have already forgiven Lin.

"Six, this is Doug Barrett, one of our best pilots" Elma said introducing me to the pilot. I stuck out my hand which he shook firmly.

"Nice to meet you, though I've never seen you around, you new?" I gave Doug a nod before my attention went back to Lin.

'Kid, I hope you can keep some of your innocence, no one should end up like me'

"I know what you're thinking Lieutenant" Elma stated, snapping me out of my thought. "She looks young and that's because she is. She's only 13, but make no mistake, she's one of our best engineers and isn't too bad in a fight."

I just kept looking at Lin who just smiled at me. "I hope you know what you've signed up for" she looked a little confused at that statement but seemed to pick up on my meaning.

"I have a few regrets, fighting to help humanity isn't one of them" I was slightly surprised by her answer but nodded in affirmation.

'Maybe she'll be fine regardless'

"Anyway, come on Six, I need to get you to HQ so you can get registered." Elma turned to Lin "Lin, you mind taking Six and I in the VTOL?" Lin suddenly got her cheerfulness back.

"Sure thing, hey Doug when you've wrapped up here take the Skell to the hanger."

"Wait, why am I cleaning up your mess?" Doug argued. I turned to Elma

"Give me a minute" she nodded and I turned to Doug. "What do you need me to do?"

He looked surprised but also glad that I was helping. He had me retrieve the ejected canopy and put it back in place while he fixed the internal problem. In just 2 minutes we had fixed what Lin had called a Skell and after Doug took off safely, I joined Lin and Elma in a nearby VTOL ship which had its guns removed so it was just a transport ship now. Lin took the controls while Elma began to introduce me to the city.

"We're currently in the industrial district of NLA, this is where most the production takes place." As Elma was speaking, we began to take off. This is where Lin took over the speaking.

"On our left is the commercial district. They have a shop for almost anything that isn't military." Lin said before Elma added "It's the closest thing we have to a downtown"

I simply took in the view from up high. It wasn't everyday I got to fly through an actual city. The last time that happened was in New Alexandria… and I didn't want to remember that day. I turned to my right to see the houses I saw earlier. I also noticed a cathedral and a park as well.

"If you ever need a place to unwind the residential area is a good place to start, plus it's home to one of our best mediators." Elma said. It wasn't long before we arrived at the final district, the administrative district. Elma explained how this is where the provisional government, armory alley, BLADE HQ, and the Barracks were located. After landing we exited the VTOL and made our way to the Barracks door.

"Why don't you head inside and I'll get you set up Six" Elma suggested

"What exactly do I need to do to register?" I asked. An unfamiliar voice then answered

"I believe I can answer that" it was a male with tan skin and scars on his face and black hair.

"Secretary Nagi" Lin said, giving away the mans identity before I could ask. He briefly addressed her before turning back to me.

"You look like a fully armored soldier, what's you name?"

I saluted "Lieutenant SPARTAN B-312, Noble Six. Call me Lieutenant, SPARTAN, or Six"

"Those sound more like code names"

"They are sir… I haven't used my real name in a long time"

"Any reason why?"

"Not one I could tell you." He nodded and opened the door to the Barracks and we all gathered inside. What proceeded was a long explanation of the events that occurred prior to my arrival in this new life. I went through them in my head.

'So the year 2056, humanity never colonized other worlds, earth was caught in a conflict between two alien army's and was destroyed as a result. Before that happend humanity came up with project exodus in order to get as many people off the planet as they could. Nagi was the captain of the white whale, one the few ships that escaped. After 2 years of drifting in space the aliens that attacked earth came back and forced the whale to crash on this planet called Mira, along with the city it had in tow. Now the primary objective of BLADE, NLAs' military, is to locate the life hold core, which contains the rest of the humans that were aboard the ship… well I know what I'm doing.' I looked at the former captain.

"Sir, permission to join BLADE?" Elma looked surprised by my request

"Are you sure Six? There are other things you could do." She said. I shook my head

"I've been fighting for most of my life, it's what I do best. My duty as a soldier is to protect humanity, no matter the cost. BLADE will give me the best chance to do that." Elma nodded and Nagi responded

"Very well, now before you become an official member you need to register." He handed me a tablet and I filled out the information… until I got to the name portion.

"Sir, may I make a request?"

"Of course"

"Can you keep my name secret for the time being?" he raised an eyebrow

"What for?"

'Ok think, what should I say… well it's not like ONI is around to terminate anyone who discovered me' "My previous line of work required a lot of secrecy sir…. I haven't used my real name in years."

He studied me, trying to get more out of me, but I wouldn't budge.

"SPARTAN is your warrior class?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well, SPARTAN is what I'll call you for now, though I do have one question, how did you get aboard the white whale, we have no records of a SPARTAN."

I was ready for that "My former employers had me quietly admitted"

"So you snuck on board" he assumed

"Basically" I said as I finished the registration

"Bold of you to admit. You're lucky though, we're not in a position to turn down help, no matter how mysterious" Nagi said before adding "Now based on your rank, you have plenty of experience but even so I want to run you through a basic training mission before you join BLADE, just to test your skill and get you used to how things work here on Mira"

I nodded and he began to explain the task as he pulled up a holographic map of the surrounding area.

"In order to gain information of the terrain and its indigiens, we plant probes in marked areas. Your job is to plant a probe here" he pointed out the marked position east of the city. "Once your finished, report back and we'll get you set up with a division."

"Understood captain"

"We'll help you out Six" lin said

I wanted to turn down the offer but Carter's order repeated in my head

 _ **That lone wolf stuff stays behind**_

"Copy that" I said before Elma, Lin, and I made our way out.

 **AN: I promise you this story will get better over time. Next time we'll see if a giant bug can deal with a fully armored SPARTAN (Oh and Elma and Lin too I guess)**


	5. Chapter 4: SPARTAN beats Tyrant

**SPARTAN beats Tyrant**

As we made our way out of the Barracks, one of the mechs came walking by. I now knew that those things were called SKELLS.

"Aren't SKELLS just the coolest!" Lin said gushing over the giant mech. I was going to call her out on it but then I remembered, she's still just a kid, let her be.

"Armory alley is where we get our weapons, armor, and ammo. You seem to have the first two covered so lets go get you restocked" Elma said. I followed closely and when we reached the shop I simply put down my Assault Rifle and Magnum on the counter. Within seconds the man running the shop had refilled my mags with the correct ammo.

'Well thankfully ammo won't be a problem' after that we picked up the probe gear and regrouped

"Six, before we head out, I just want to tell you the golden rule around here, in case you don't know." Elma said

"Go ahead"

"There's a fine line between self-defense and instigating a fight, we need to walk that line, okay?"

"Understood ma'am"

"Hey, check it out, the east gate is now open." Lin pointed out "The lockdown was just lifted. They were having an indigen problem but I guess that's fixed now."

"Good, we'll head out that way. Come on Six" I followed behind Elma as we made our way to the massive gate.

…

We didn't have to go too far east in order to reach the point of placement, but of course things are never that easy. As we got closer we saw five dead creatures that looked to be a cross between a gorilla and lion.

"What are those things?"

"Simius" Lin answered "But what killed them….. wait" she pointed at another creature that was obscured by a cliff, it looked like a giant bug.

"You don't think that one cinicula killed all these simius?" Lin asked no one in particular. I kept an eye on the massive creature as it began to move.

"Unless…. This is bad" Elma said. Tired of being left in the dark I asked

"What is it?"

"That cinicula is a tyrant."

"What's a tyrant?"

"It's the designation given to indigenes that exceed our threat level" Lin explained. In other words, that cinicula had to go. I grabbed my assault rifle and began to formulate an attack strategy.

"Whoa there! What are you doing?" Lin exclaimed.

"Six, tyrants are not to be trifled with. Entire BLADE teams have come back from tyrant scraps with serious injuries, if they come back at all" Elma said

"That thing is in our way to the probe site and if it's as dangerous as you say it is, then we can't just leave it this close to the city." I reasoned. It took Elma a moment to think about it but eventually saw my logic.

"You're right Six, we can't just leave it. If we can't kill it the least we should do is lure it away from the city. Lin"

"Count me in" she drew he weapon which unfolded into what looked to be an energy cannon.

"Colonel, I have an idea" I said

"Let's hear it" she responded

"You and I will soften that thing up, Lin, you take the final shot at its head when we stagger it."

"Got it and I think I know a good spot" she said pointing to the cliff adjacent to the tyrant.

"Okay…. I'm bait" I charged ahead

 **[Play Uncontrollable-Xenoblade X OST]**

"Six wait up!" Elma called after me. I opened fire on the cinicula. The shots punctured its exoskeleton, causing green blood to be drawn. It screamed and charged at me. I charged right back. It swung one of its legs but I dodged it easily as I unloaded the rest of the clip into its underbelly. Elma joined in, sliding under the beast a cutting away at the armored stomach with twin blades. I reloaded as the cinicula jumped away, it was only a temporary escape as I kept firing bursts at it. It looked to charge again but was hit with an energy beam from Lin's cannon. It screamed as it fired several spikes. Elma managed to dodge all of them while I took a hit from one which caused my shields to flash for a brief moment as they dropped to half capacity. I drew my magnum and fired the entire mag into its face as it charged again. This time as it swung I caught its leg before jamming it into the dirt. As it tried to pull out, I took advantage by running up its leg and throwing a haymaker to its face. The force would have killed most aliens but this one only had its face shielding crack. Elma then fired a few shots of her own which completely removed the green armor.

"Hit it now Lin!" She hollered. That order was soon followed by one precise blast after another. The 5th blast shattered the tyrant's skull sending blood every where. I reloaded the magnum and checked to make sure it was dead. 'For off the charts dangerous, that was easy'. After that we regrouped and I could tell Lin was happy.

"We are awesome! Especially you Six, you just ran up and punched the thing!"

"That was overly reckless Six" I was expecting that lecture from Elma but I didn't really pay any mind. "But you did good. We all did. Now let's get that probe placed." We set up the probe gear and Lin was about to send the probe into the ground before she stopped and stared at me.

"You need something Lin?"

"Just thought that you should do the honors."

"It's easy, just fire it from your Com device" Elma said

"I don't have one colonel" I responded. Lin then handed me hers

"Just use mine then" I took the device before pressing the holographic button, launching the probe into the ground.

"Good, let's get back now. We'll be able to officially make you a BLADE" Lin stated.

It was as we were walking back when I actually started to think about what I was doing. 'I've been dead for some time but I'm still technically part of the UNSC. Now, I'm trading away my loyalty… no. My loyalty is to humanity, even if they are from a different universe. Hopefully BLADE will be somewhat similar but I'll adapt if it isn't… that's what wolves do, adapt.' Then it hit me 'Wait, the contract said that this humanity was fighting a war similar to the one I died in and those xenos that destroyed earth chased them here. So where are they?'

 **AN: This is probably the worst chapter so far as i still need work on action sequences. It'll get better over time, i promise.**


	6. Chapter 5: Xeno Killer

**Xeno Killer**

I pondered on that question as we continued through the commercial district, NLA's downtown area. Everyone we walked by greeted Elma and Lin but always went silent when they got to me. I didn't bother to introduce myself to them, talking wasn't exactly my strong suite. I talked when I needed to and not when I didn't. Unless it was with Noble team

'Of course…. It wasn't always like that… no use to me right now though so it's not worth dwelling on'

"You know you could wave to the people who say hi." Lin said in a slightly teasing manner. I didn't bat an eye at the suggestion as we kept walking by the shops. Soon we reached the BLADE barracks and waiting for us inside was captain Nagi. Beside him was a man who looked to be about the same age. He was muscular and had a blonde mustache. His build would be considered impressive for a human.

"Commander Vahndam" Lin said once again saving me the trouble of asking for a name.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." the commander responded in a nonchalant way. "And you must be the new one around here. I heard you took on a Tyrant way out of your league and on a training mission no less."

"For 'out of my league' it wasn't very herd to kill" was my response. He seemed taken aback slightly but recovered.

"That was reckless… and goddamn magnificent!" he chuckled. "So who are you?"

I saluted and was about to give him the full title until Elma dropped in.

"This is Lieutenant Noble Six, he's a SPARTAN, and a damn good one at that"

I dropped the salute and stood at attention.

"Soldier to the core I see, looks like you hit the jackpot Elma"

"Actually sir, he found us"

The commander seemed even more impressed. "Well aren't you special. Anyway, Nagi here wanted me to get you set up with a division" right after he said that, Nagi excused himself from the conversation. After his departure Elma began to explain the divisions which Vahndam introduced. Pathfinders plant data probes, Interceptors defend the city and help other teams that get caught out of guard, Harriers are the one's who eliminate clear and obvious threats, Reclaimers recover pieces of the crashed white whale, curators set out for new resources, outfitters make weapons and armor, prospectors… prospect, and mediators keep the peace around the city and sound more like counselors than soldiers.

'Well it's certainly different from the UNSC but I guess that's to be expected from a new universe.' I lowered the list down to three, Interceptors, Harriers, and Reclaimers before imputing my decision on my new com device.

"Reclaimers huh? Well you look like someone who could secure a ship piece or two so I guess it makes sense. You'll be part of Elma's team for all assignments. Sound good?"

I nodded in acceptance which caused the commander to laugh

"Well aren't you a chatty one! By the power invested in me, yadda, yadda, you're officially a BLADE. Now, lets get down to brass tacks. Nelson's team has gone missing."

"Nelson, pathfinders then" Elma confirmed

"Yeah, they had a SKELL with them so I don't think indigens are the problem, but still we should have heard something from them by now"

"We'll go see what's up, come on Six"

I readied my gear as we proceeded out the door.

…

Once again we headed east, deeper into the land mass they called primordia. The grassy wooded area was now bathed in moonlight as we had spent most of the day looking for the missing pathfinders.

'I guess the days here go by faster.' I thought as I briefly took in the sight of the white moons before turning back to the task at hand. I kept zooming in with the visor to look for that SKELL when Elma got on the comms

"Six, we found it, get over here." She said as the location popped up on the map.

I immediately made my way over to the adjacent valley and caught up to Elma and Lin. The SKELL was green and looked rather unscathed save for a few burn marks… familiar burn marks. I began to give the mech a closer inspection.

"These aren't bite and claw marks" Lin commented

"If they were eaten we would know, so did they leave or were they taken?" Elma asked

"I'm going with taken, these are plasma burns. Unless one of these creatures can shoot out plasma, the team was fired upon" I said while drawing my MA37.

"You think we're dealing with intelligent lifeforms"? Elma asked. A single nod was my response as I began to hear approaching footsteps.

"We're about to have company." I stated as two armored soldiers with pointed ears approached us.

"You there, drop your weapons" one of them ordered which only made me aim my rifle at them.

"Elma… you don't think" Lin said

"Wait Lin, Six stand down. Have you forgotten what I told you already! We need to see if diplomacy is an option."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Two xenos had us in their crosshairs and she wanted to negotiate? I holstered the AR but put a firm hand on the M6G magnum at my side, just in case.

"We come in peace. We crash landed here about two months ago. If this is your home we apologize for intruding and would ask for the conditions of the release of any human prisoners you have" Elma proposed.

Of course there response was to raise their weapons.

"No conditions, No surrender, we have our orders, all earth aliens must die!"

I drew my sidearm and fired two shots, one for each of there heads which proceeded to soak the dirt beneath them.

"So much for diplomacy, what's the deal with wanting us all dead?" Lin asked as I reloaded my pistol.

"Your guess is as good as mine Lin" Elma responded

"We need to find that team now" I said. Lin then pulled out her com device.

"I got'em. I'm picking up pathfinder IFFs coming from over there" she pointed out what looked to be a metal alien structure.

"No doubt there are more of those things around the structure. I say we split up." I suggested

"Right, Six you move around the perimeter and then make your way inside. You have permission to engage in combat, but be selective, you don't need to telegraph your presence. Now get going, that team can't wait forever." I nodded and headed off.

The light of the moonlight was enough for me to see without the night vision. I approached the cliff under the structure and began to scale it. When I reached the top I drew my MA37 and made way up the steps

 **[Play Peril-Halo 2 OST]**

The first armored alien didn't even notice me and received a knife to the skull for it. The others down in the field below took notice and began to fire. I returned fire, dropping two of them in seconds before I had to reload. Several of there plasma shots connected causing my shields to break and setting off the warning alarm in the suit. I took cover briefly for them to recharge, which caused the aliens to get cocky and change me down.

'Idiots' I drew my magnum and put 3 of them down before they got close. This had a familiar feeling, like I was fighting brutes again, except much easier. I switched back to my rifle and reloaded as the orange glow of my shields came back. I checked the area below before continuing.

"Six, come in"

"Go ahead colonel"

"I've highlighted the target structure, go through the back door. We still have a ways to go, but your close. Clear them out if you can but help that pathfinder team either way."

"Copy that"

As I approached one more alien revealed itself in an ambush attempt. I quickly grabbed the arm and slammed it to the ground before jamming my knife into its skull. It didn't take long to reach the target structure, however an entire squad poured out of the building and began to fire. While some nearby rocks provided good cover I found my shields going down before I could get any shots in as they just never seemed to run out of ammo. I decided to get risky. I pulled out my knife and charged. The shields were dropped in an instant but thankfully I had MJOLNIR armor so the plating held up. The first one I reached met a swift end as I slid the knife into its neck. The next few met a similar fate. Speed and reflexes, two things that the augmentations I endured years ago gave me. These slow, bumbling, brutes were dead before they could call for help. I flicked the blood off my knife and proceeded. Something about being in true combat again was… fulfilling, like I was doing what I was created to do. I then moved in to continue my duty.

 **Elma POV**

"I think that's all of them Lin, come on we're nearly there" I said in an attempt to comfort Lin.

I knew that she was mature enough to handle combat but I could tell something was bugging her. I made a mental note to talk to her later. Lin and I then approached the structure's front gate, they had a lot of metal crates in the way which looked like a poor attempt at disguising the door.

"Lin"

"On it"

"Six, Lin and I are just outside the structure what's your status?"

No response. That wasn't very comforting considering that I barely knew the SPARTAN. Hell, I didn't even truly know what a SPARTAN really was, only that he was a powerful soldier.

"Lin, hurry up"

"I got it" the metal door slid down and then out of its frame, creating a ramp. We made our way inside as Lin tightened her grip on her gauss cannon.

"Relax Lin, you can't aim if your tense." I whispered. She began to regain her nerve as we entered the main room… only to lose it again once we saw what was left in the room. Six, the blue SPARTAN warrior, was covered in purple blood, the blood of the creatures we've been fighting. That wasn't all. Three more of those creatures lied dead on the opposite wall, like they were tossed away after they were killed.

'Did he do this? Who the hell did I just recruit?' he turned to us, stared for a moment and then squatted to the ground. I then realized what he was looking at. Nelson, dead, along with his entire team. I felt terrible, a sinking feeling rose in my gut telling me 'you failed, again'. He began to collect their bloody dog tags as I slowly walked over. He silently looked them over, as if he was trying to learn there names before he turned to me. I could only see my own reflection in the visor as he handed me the tags.

"They showed them no mercy, I showed them none in return" he said in a serious yet sinister way. Normally I would have wanted to negotiate, see if diplomacy was an option, but seeing the mangled bodies and blue blood of Nelson's squad… I felt no pity for these creatures. Not this time.

"We did what we could…" I tried to maintain a calm presence but Lin could tell it was faltering as she put a hand on my back as we walked out.

"I don't get it, why would they be so bent on killing all humans?" Lin asked

"Who can say, either way this is dire news, we should get back to HQ ASAP." I responded

"Roger that, and here I thought we were just beginning to escape all this." Lin commented

We turned to leave, only to hear an unfamiliar voice shout "Yes, escape, Tatsu only want escape!" turning back I saw one of those metal containers shaking, like something was trying to get out.

"More xenos?!" Lin said in a panic

"Stay back Lin" I turned to Six "What do you want to do Six?"

 **Six POV**

I readied my AR as I walked toward the container and hit the button to pop open the hatch. Several potato like crops flew out. I looked over them all and noticed one had fur and a green backpack. I put my finger on the trigger, ready to end the pathetic thing in an instant… until it stood up and started 'dancing'

"Ah freedom, Tatsu do dance of freedom" the thing seemed overjoyed to have been free from its metal prison, so much so that it didn't realize that it was still in serious danger of being shot.

"Interesting, one of the vegetables appears to be sentient." Elma said

I tuned out the conversation, deciding instead to keep my rifle trained on the creature. Every movement of it seemed to give it an innocent vibe at some points while fumbling around at others. It then pulled a ball of light which began to circle around me before returning to the creatures backpack. Lin then scanned the creature before turning to me.

"Hey Six, think you can carry small fry back to the city?"

"… we're taking this thing with us?"

"That 'thing' is a no-pon named Tatsu, he's native to Mira and says that those creatures we were fighting are called prone. They aren't native, which means they followed us here. Tatsu has agreed to be our informant and guide as his people are merchants who trade all across Mira." Elma looked slightly annoyed with me when she added "you can put the gun away now, he's not a threat and even if he wanted to hurt us do you think he could?"

'No but we didn't think much of grunts until they were given plasma pistols.' I decided not to voice that thought and decided instead to pick up the no-pon even as it protested. As we walked back I couldn't help but feel pity for that fallen team, they deserved better than that.

'Then again… life isn't about what you deserve. Life gives you a set of cards and you have to play them… even if that hand sucks.'

 **AN: From now on, all action sequences will be in third person because writing in first person for action sequences SUCKS! I've updated the profile so I recommend reading that again as Six's appearance has been altered since I first started writing. With that being said the next chapter probably won't be nearly as long… maybe. In the next chapter, Six is going to request something from NLA's best outfitter… who also happens to have a real attachment to SKELLS.**


	7. Chapter 6: Meeting the SKELL nut

**Meeting the SKELL nut**

Elma had set up a room in the barracks for me which was surprising and appreciated as I have never had my own room in the UNSC… well okay I had one in sword base but that didn't last too long. I locked the door and removed the MJOLNIR armor plates. The last thing to go was my helmet which I looked over for any damage. The only marks on the armor were very light plasma burns and nothing more.

'Their weapons fire plasma shots alright, but it's not like the super heated plasma the covenant used.' I then unzipped the neck area of the under suite and took off the multiple tags I was wearing. Even in Valhalla I hung on to the tags of the few that called me teammate. Of course I kept the tags of Noble team, they were the closest thing to family I had since my mom died. I placed their tags into one of the many hidden compartments. That left only 3 chains. My wolf emblem pendant which I would never leave behind, Noble teams pendant, and Nia's dog tag. SPARTAN Blade, she wasn't given a number and was a lot like me, a lone wolf. The difference is that I became a lone wolf while she started as one. The tag was a permanent reminder of the loss of my mirror image. I didn't really know who she was as she spoke even less than me… and yet her first words to me were also her last.

" _ **Martin, promise me that you won't be like me. Don't become a machine, a ghost. If that happens then all you'll have in life… is death"**_

In that moment, in this new universe and world was when I realized something… I failed her. I shook my head and put my tag back on along with my pendants and Nia's tag.

'I'll try Nia, but old habits die hard.'

I cleaned of the armor and placed the plates back on while I pulled out the data chip Emile gave to me and placed it in the com device. Scrolling through the files I noticed one thing, there were more than just weapon blueprints in the chip. Armor schematics, data on the UNSC and ONI, even my file was there. Of course most of it was covered in black ink but still.

'I don't know how you got all of this while dead Kat but maybe I should stop doubting your Intellect.' I found the blueprint I was looking for and set out to find someone to build an old tool of mine. When I reached the main area of the Barracks it looked as though the colonel was done briefing the commander… and Tatsu was still here.

'I guess she was serious'

"Six, you going some where?" Elma asked

"You said outfitters build weapons, who's your best one?"

"A woman by the name of Alexa, she works in the SKELL hanger. I'll mark the area on your map so you know where to go. If I may ask, what do you need?"

"I'm going to see if this Alexa can build an old favorite of mine. I've got the blueprint and the supply list so hopefully she can get it done."

"Well she's the best for a reason, I'm sure she can handle it."

I nodded and began to walk out until Lin called out to me.

"Six"

I turned to her as I was opening the barracks entrance

"Just to give you a heads up, Alexa is a little quirky and by that I mean she puts my love of SKELLS to shame."

I didn't know how to react to that so I simply made my way out of the Barracks and began the long walk to the hanger.

 **Alexa POV**

"Almost… there" I finally fit the power core into the slot, completing the beautiful piece of work that was my SKELL.

'Man.. if I was allowed to fly you all day, I would do just that.' Looking over all the curves and bolts of my mech nearly made me drool.

'Okay, just 3 more hours and I can do whatever I want with you' I wiped the sweat off my face as began to work on the next repair, which happened to be Doug's SKELL. I went through the normal routine; check for outer plating damage, run an internal check, then focus on the repaint. I was about to get started until something new walked in.

'Hey, I didn't know we made smaller scale SKELLS. I mean it doesn't look like a SKELL but what else could have armor that awesome! I mean the blue paint isn't in the best condition but that silver visor is sick… wait is it walking toward me? Ok get it together Alexa you can do this.'

I stood up and gave this mech my full attention. As it got closer I took notice of two symbols on its chest plate. One was a howling white wolf with a blue circle background that blended with the color of the armor and the other was an eagle with its wings spread out, the banner under it read UNSC.

"You're Alexa Frost right?"

'Wait… it talked? Oh god I'm an idiot, its just a guy in armor… really cool armor but not a SKELL… wait he asked me something, I should probably answer.'

"Yeah that's me" I gave my best smile to this armored blade

"I was told you were the best outfitter, I want you to build me a weapon if you can."

"Sure, what do you need?" the 'man' proceeded to pull out his com device and send me.. a blueprint.

'That… wasn't what I was expecting. Okay let's see' I had to hold in my laughter. 'A DMR? This guy wants a DMR? Okay sure I've never seen this model but still.' "Are you sure you want this?"

"Can you build it?"

"Oh yeah, this should be a piece of cake but really, a DMR?"

I got no verbal response but it didn't take a genius to see beyond the visor, he was annoyed.

"Okay… I'll have it to you in 2 days, and since it's your first order it's on the house."

"Thanks" he turned to walk away before I called out

"Hey, I never got your name." he stopped and turned for a brief second.

"Lieutenant Noble Six" he then kept walking as I turned back to Doug's SKELL. For the first time in forever though, my mind wasn't on the beautiful machine in front of me, it was on the soldier that had just walked out.

'What kind of a name is Noble Six?'

 **AN: A bit on the short end I know but after the last one took too long I thought I'd get this out quickly. If anyone gets the reference I made, you get a cookie.**


	8. Chapter 7: The ganglion's menace

**The ganglions' menace**

 **Two days after Six's arrival**

 **Elma POV**

Lin was doing her usual routine at 4pm. She was putting her cooking skills to good use… and giving Tatsu a good tease by threatening to cook him up. It got a slight chuckle out of me as I continued to wait as Lin insisted she didn't need help.

"Hey Elma?"

"Yeah Lin?"

"Have you noticed something odd about Six?" that got my attention

"What do you mean?"

"I mean have you noticed that he hasn't taken a break since he got here. I mean he takes missions until night time rolls around. Then he's right back to work."

I didn't think much of it at first "Well we've had workaholics before Lin."

"Yeah but have they taken nothing but solo missions?"

"…what?"

"Yeah, he's done nothing but solo missions since he got here, and they aren't easy tasks either. He takes missions that would normally require an entire team."

I couldn't believe what Lin was saying. As I was about to speak again a certain SPARTAN walked in. He had a rifle in had as he was about to head to his room again.

"Hey Six, come here" he changed course and approached me. "You've been working yourself to the bone and have taken missions by yourself, care to explain?"

He didn't respond at first but then spoke.

"It's an old habit of mine colonel, I work best alone… but I can work with a team if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm more worried about the fact that you're going to burn yourself out, I don't care what kind of condition you're in, you'll get tired eventually."

He said nothing.

"Look, how about you take the rest of the day off."

"… is that an order ma'am?"

'What… why would I have to do that? What have you gone through Six' "No… but it's a sincere request from a friend."

 **Six POV**

Friend… she didn't even know me. She had no idea who I was, where I came from, what I've gone through,… what I've done. If she knew she wouldn't call me friend. Yet, despite this I wasn't mad at Elma for wanting to get closer to me, I was her newest teammate after all. No, I was mad at myself. I made several promises to others and to myself that I would be better, that I would be different, that I wouldn't let my lone wolf nature define me ever again. Yet here I am, doing the same thing in this life as I did in the last one, bind myself to my duty to mankind.

"How about we work this out over dinner?" Lin said while passing out two plates, each adorned with a piece of pot pie. That got my attention because not only were we not eating MRE's but Lin cooked the food. I was tempted to grab the plate and go to my room to eat in solitude but that changed the moment I saw Lin's face. She had an expression of excitement but also… sadness. She really wanted to see me or at least see me beyond the helmet. This ODST helmet had been my mask for years, it carried with it a reputation but most importantly, it kept the wolf behind it hidden. However, this was a different world, perhaps I should try and "interact" a little more. I reached up and pulled off the helmet as it gave a light hiss. I set it down on the table and picked up the fork. I took one bite and stopped. The flavor, the memories, the pain and…. Happiness that came with it was a real shock to the system. I just kept the fork in my mouth as I tried to process everything that had just hit me when I felt a warm liquid running down my right cheek. I swiped at my cheek with my right hand and noticed a drop of water on the suite covered hand, then it hit me. I had shed a tear, I had cried, over a bite of pot pie… what the hell was wrong with me?

"Six, you okay?" Elma asked

"It can't be that bad right?" Lin asked with concern. I took one breath to regain my composure before speaking.

"No Lin… this is the best thing I've had since…"

"Since..?" Lin asked. I didn't want to tell her 'Since I lost my home… and mother' so I settled for

"Since I became a SPARTAN."

"How long ago was that?" Elma asked

"21 years ago" was my response. Elma looked mildly surprised but Lin looked devastated.

"That's it, you're eating with us from now on" Lin said with confidence. Most would have laughed at that 'order' but not me. If this was what real food tasted like then I would gladly break character for it.

'I guess good food really is an ice breaker' I just took every bite as slow as I could, almost like I was afraid that it would be the last time I had something this good. The next few minutes all blended together as I took in every bit of flavor this 'pie' had to offer. When I finally looked up from the plate I realized that commander Vahndam had joined us for dinner.

"Well look who finally gained his senses, how are you lieutenant?" he asked as I finished the best meal I ever had.

"Ready for whatever task you brought for us."

"Well aren't you observant, I do have a task for all of you."

I put my helmet back on as we all met in the briefing room for the commanders' task.

"A pathfinder team has discovered a piece of the white whale, well okay they think they've found a piece in Noctilum, that's north west of here lieutenant." The map on screen shifted north west and zoomed in on the marked area.

"Oh, friends mean nightglow woods." The no-pon Tatsu commented

"Is that what the no-pon call it?" Elma asked but never got an answer as the commander continued.

"The team tried recovering the piece but pulled out due to indigenous resistance, thankfully we haven't detected an intelligent lifeforms."

"No that wrong, no-pon visit nightglow woods all the time." Tatsu said

"Well like I said no 'intelligent' lifeforms"

I smirked at the commanders jab at the aliens pride, Lin then threatened to cook him again if he didn't keep quiet, he shut up real quick after that.

"Since you're the best Reclaimer we have Elma we're sending your team in to recover the piece. Lieutenant, you've been gaining a reputation around here but you haven't done a Reclaimer mission yet, here's your chance to prove you're more than just a one man army."

I saluted "Will do commander"

"Well if it's all settled we should get a move on, lets go Six." Elma commanded and I followed her out but not before retrieving my DMR and MA37.

…

The journey to the southern edge of Noctilum was rather uneventful, just passing by a bunch of grass and rock formations, kind of like Azod on Reach… well before it got turned into a wasteland.

'I've got to move on from that, it's not like I'll ever know what happened to my humanity' as we got closer we came across the pathfinder team the commander spoke of, they had a SKELL that was busy planting a probe. One of them turned to us, he had long jet black hair and looked to be of Asian descent.

"Well look who's here" he said

"Lao, it's been a while" Elma responded

"It has, you gonna introduce me to you're crew? Where's Danny and Boris?" Lao asked

"This is my new team, hand picked them myself, as for Danny and Boris…. We had a run in with a nasty indigen, they didn't make it"

'I know that feeling all too well, it's why I preferred being a lone wolf… but that's not an option.'

"And what about you, you look more like a walking tank" Lao's question pushed me out of my thoughts.

"Lieutenant SPARTAN B-312, Noble Six, just call me Six" I was tired of giving the full title.

"What kind of a name is Six?"

"My name" was my answer, it seemed to be good enough for him

"So what brings you out here?" he asked

"We were told that your team located a piece of the white whale, we came here to mark it for retrieval" Elma explained. Lao had a face of confusion

"Really? We haven't come across anything, of course it's possible that one of the probes we plated earlier detected the unit"

"Well it was good seeing you Lao but we need to get going" Elma stated

"Wait, let me come with you." Lao insisted

"Are you sure?"

"My team's about done here, besides this is more important."

"…very well" and so Lao joined the squad as we entered the forest area known as Noctilum. We made our way across a land bridge and into a narrow valley when something came up on my motion tracker. Elma noticed as well. I drew my DMR.

"Heads up everyone, somethings coming" Elma warned. I quickly moved in front of Lin to guard her.

"Hey down in front, I can't see!" she complained. A blue skinned Xeno approached, it had two horns coming out of its head and its blue skin nearly matched the color of my armor. I kept my DMR trained on its head as it got closer.

"Another Xeno" Elma bluntly stated

"At least it's not a prone" Lin said

The mysterious Xeno then spoke "Perish the thought good sir's, perish and kill the thought. We would not wish to be compared to them"

"Who are you?" Elma asked

"You may call us L"

'Strange, it refers to itself in the 3rd person' I thought.

"Like the No-pon we have inhabited Mira since the days of antiquity." L continued

"Friend knows the No-pon people?" Tatsu asked. I realized this was spiraling into a conversation, something we didn't have time for. I turned to the colonel

"Ma'am while I understand why you'd want an affinity with L here, this isn't a good time, we've got a ship piece to recover."

"Right, how about you go on ahead, see if you can find the ship piece. You have its general location on your map, I'll handle the talking."

With a nod I went off into the forest.

…

 **[Play: Bits and pieces-Halo 3 ODST soundtrack (0:00-4:55)]**

The ground beneath me kept giving off the familiar sound of crunching grass as I continued toward the marked area. The forest wasn't as thick as I imagined it, in fact there were quite a few open areas filled with nothing but grass and a few native creatures which didn't bother me. Moonlight lit the way as night had set in again, the days were already starting to blend together so I didn't really care what day it was, I just needed to reach that lifehold piece.

"Six, come in" Elma's voice run out, disturbing the quiet that was starting to sink in.

"I read you"

"Apparently L here found the lifehold piece we're looking for, he took one of the terminals to 'satisfy his thirst for knowledge' before you ask no he didn't tamper with the unit."

"So it's not the core we're looking for?"

"No but it's still vital. It's an archive unit containing one third of human history. If you find it make sure nothing happens to it."

"And if those Xenos from before are messing with it?"

"Stop them, by any means necessary" he order was to the point and honest. I knew she would rather talk it out but she'll have to learn that that's not an option… most of the time. I continued through the open field back into a wooded area. It wasn't long before I came across a gorge which was devoid of any running liquid so I jumped down.

'It can't be too far now' I continued along the gorge before a certain sound caught my attention. The sound of an engine… and it was getting closer. I took cover behind a few rocks as I waited. The sound grew closer and I looked up to see a dark colored SKELL pass over. When it moved on I sprinted onward toward to the marked area. It didn't take long as the gorge lead right to my target. The piece was a lot bigger than I thought it would be at it reached to the top of the cliff it was leaning against. I then positioned myself behind another set of rocks when I heard voices.

"Move you grunts, prepare to fire!"

Prone, they began to encircle the unit. I griped my DMR, took a deep breath,… and let the wolf take over.

 **3** **rd** **POV**

The prone were set to fire when suddenly a shot rang out. One dropped to the floor and then another as the shots continued to come. It total panic the prone began to fire randomly in several directions. Six continued to pick them off one by one as the barrel of the DMR began to smoke. He moved out from his hiding spot and reloaded. The remaining prone took notice and fired but they were shaking so badly from fear that only a couple of shots contacted the hyper lethal SPARTAN, they didn't even break the shield. They soon met their end as two armor piercing rounds punched though their skulls, sending them to the dirt. The SPARTAN did not know yet but his carnage was being observed by another Xeno. Goetia, the second commander of the ganglion was in shock and awe of this mysterious warriors raw power.

'And yet, it defends the property of those human scum… why?' she wanted an answer. Besides, the prone could be replaced if this warrior joined them. She lowered her SKELL into the valley below. Six immediately turned toward the SKELL with his DMR at the ready, before realizing he only had one shot left in the magazine. Goetia stepped out, letting her tentacle "hair" flow freely.

"You there" she called out. Six knew this freak was talking to him and didn't bother to respond rather he kept his sights firmly trained on her head.

"You've shown that you have great power yet you waste it defending human junk, why is that?" Six still didn't respond. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to pull the trigger but he waited, waited for this alien to slip up and give him info. That went out the window as Elma and the others arrived.

"You okay Six?" Elma asked but received no response, instead she prepared to draw her weapons on the Xeno Six was aiming at.

"Why are you doing this?" Lin shouted at Goetia

"Why? Because it is the ganglion's calling, to wipe out humanity"

"Then you should know that my duty as a SPARTAN is defend humanity, whatever the cost" Six spoke, his voice giving off the aura of death that the Hyper lethal was used to giving in his past life.

Goetia was confused 'A SPARTAN? How did humanity manage to tame such a beast?' she played one final card "So SPARTAN, why is it your duty? What did they ever do to gain your favor?" Silence… then a shot. A searing pain spread through Goetia's torso, the SPARTAN had shot her. Six dropped the DMR and switch to his assault rifle. Goetia immediately stepped into the SKELL and took off as bullets hit the armor as she flew off.

 **Six POV**

I was mentally smacking myself. That was the easiest headshot I had in years and yet I only hit her upper chest, pathetic. I took a deep breath and let my adrenaline ease down to normal levels.

"Six" this time I turned to the colonel

"I'm fine colonel. The unit is undamaged" I stated. She didn't look pleased with that answer.

"I was going to ask what made you go quiet, I mean more quiet then usual."

"I let the wolf take over."

"What?"

"I'll explain later." She let it go as we marked the unit for recovery.

…

I inspected my armor and weapons again and again to pass the time. The question the freak asked me was somehow still in my head. Why did I serve humanity? Because it was my duty. What did they do for me? They gave me a purpose and a way to get revenge for mom. That's what they did for me, nothing else matters.


	9. Chapter 8: Concerned Optimism

**Concerned optimism**

 **Elma POV**

"And that's about it" I finished

"So not only did you let the lieutenant go off on his own but he managed to save the archive unit? We really hit the jackpot with this guy!" the commander said with his usual tough optimism. I was happy that we managed to save a third of human history but… Six was beginning to concern me with how he was behaving.

"Ms. Elma if I may" L asked a silent question which I answered

"Go ahead L" he left along with Lin and Vahndam, leaving just the director general, Nagi, and me.

"Elma, you only stay behind if something is bothering you, care to speak?" the captain asked

"Always observant aren't you Nagi but yeah, it's Six, something about him just doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… look at the footage and pictures we have. Have you ever seen anyone even come close to resembling him? It's like he's from a different world but he's human."

"His armor and weapons are things we've never seen before and the fact that his armor appears to have a shielding system is even more suspicious." The director general added

"For what it's worth I'm not worried about him betraying us, rather I'm… concerned about how he views himself. He sees himself as an animal to be unleashed rather than a human. Out in Noctilum, when the ganglion creature said it was their calling to destroy us, he responded with 'my duty as a SPARTAN is to defend humanity whatever the cost'.

The room was silent

"He also seems to have a case of xenophobia but I'm not going to judge him just yet. I need to know more before I can do that."

"Well I trust him" Vahndam said "That guy has done nothing but get the job done time after time, it would be stupid to question his service, even if he did seemingly come from nowhere."

"Like I said, I'm not worried about him betraying us, rather I just don't want him to see himself as a tool"

"Then it seems you should go have a chat with him personally." Nagi suggested

"Yeah perhaps I should, thanks" I said my goodbyes and made my way down the tower and toward the barracks. The alleys were mostly clear except for one blade in armory alley… who happened to be the hulking blue SPARTAN I was looking for. He seemed to be talking with… L?

'Odd, maybe I shouldn't call him Xenophobic just yet.' L then began to walk away which allowed me to approach Six. "How you holding up Six?"

"Fine ma'am, just needed to refill on ammo that and L helped set up my credit account, how he got that information concerns me but I'll let it slide."

"Are you free now?"

"At the moment, yes."

"Good, come with me, I want to talk to you."

"I'm not much of a talker ma'am."

"You don't need to, I just need you to listen" he didn't protest and followed me into the barracks. I sat down on one of the couches in the living room but Six refused to sit down

"Why don't you-"

"My armor's weight would crush the couch"

I knew better then to question that and I wasn't going to ask him to take off the armor. I could tell that it was more than just a suit of armor to him.

"Something on your mind ma'am?" he asked

"Yeah and it's about you, before you say anything, I want you to know that I trust you and you've been a massive help since you came here. I've never been one to question someone who helps me and I'm not going to start now. But I'm worried that you're trying to shoulder this by yourself" he said nothing. He then took off his helmet, revealing his short, messy, black hair and pale white skin. His eyes were odd because they had two colors, ember orange and ash gray. His expression was mostly blank but I could tell that he was thinking. "What about you? What's on your mind?"

"That freak had some nerve to try and turn me, I should have put her down…"

"I hear a but coming."

"I missed, I lowered my aim, she could be dead anyway but I gave her a chance to live, to send a message to anyone else who threatens humanity. She asked why is it my duty? Because someone has to do the dirty work."

"Six, it's not just your duty. We all have a duty to protect and serve humanity. We're fighting to survive and forge a new life and we need everyone to do their job. Just know that you don't have to do it alone" he went silent and look me strait in the eyes before turning to the helmet in his hands. He seemed to be at a crossroads, like he wanted to tell me something but couldn't.

"It's not that easy Elma, I've been through more than you can imagine… and I know what it's like to have others shoulder my responsibility. It almost never ends well."

"I'm not asking you to change now, these things don't happen over night but maybe, when you feel comfortable, come find me and I'll listen to everything you're willing to say."

He looked back to me and after a few seconds he nodded and put his helmet back on. He was about to walk out the door when I called out.

"Hey Six" he turned to me "Since I forgot to ask, what do you mean by you let the wolf take over?" He paused but then spoke.

"It means I let my raw battle instincts take over, I become entirely focused on combat." I could tell he was cutting out some pieces but he wasn't lying. Of course that was a guess because it was almost impossible to get a read on him with that helmet on.

"Okay, just don't completely give into that feeling, otherwise you might forget who's friend or foe." He simply nodded before leaving. Suddenly I felt like that talk just amplified my worries. 'God forbid I ever find out the truth about him… or he finds out the truth about me.'


	10. Affinity 1: Irina-Renewed Will

**AN: Allow me to make two things clear before we continue**

 **1: I will not be writing every single action or fight sequence in the game as that gets very boring for me to write so you'll see … a lot throughout the story, at least until later**

 **2: I will not cover every character in the game, only characters that are required or that I really like. In other words, I don't wanna F**king hear it that I didn't include certain characters, I already know so please don't pester me about it**

 **Irina: Renewed Will**

I turned in yet another mission and collected the spoils, of course I would have turned them down but their was no decline reward option. After turning in the assignment I took a step back and looked over the board again but I wasn't looking for another mission. Instead I thought of what Elma told me again.

'Maybe she's right, these ganglion aren't exactly the covenant so maybe I don't have to carry everything… no… no' the image of Nia kept creeping into my head 'Never again, I will carry the burden alone… that way I take most of the pain in the end.' My gaze began to wander to the right and I spotted Elma leaving the barracks in her usual attire of red and white armor. She looked lost… then she looked at me. I knew what she wanted even though I knew it was probably not going to work out 'Then again… I'm a SPARTAN, accomplishing the impossible is an expectation' I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder, giving the silent message of 'I'm coming with you, where ever you're going'. She didn't say a thing and just nodded in return. Lin came running up and joined us, something about taking a break with Elma, I wasn't really paying attention. Normally I'd take the VTOL to where ever I needed to go but Elma insisted on walking which I didn't mind at all. As we began to walk I took notice of the amount of people who stared at me. Of course this was hardly new to me but it was the first time I bothered to look back at a few of them. We kept walking down the street until we came across a familiar interceptor.

"Colonel" Irina greeted Elma with a smile, a bit different from her pure soldier personality.

"Irina, how's your day off going?"

"Well since everyone else is off doing their own thing, I thought I'd eat by myself but…"

"You realize eating alone is kind of pathetic?" Lin finished

"Well that's not exactly what I'd say"

Just then two men began to walk up. They looked to be BLADEs as well.

"Oh look it's Irina" one of them commented with a sarcastic tone which caught my attention.

"That's LIEUTENANT Irina to you. She was a real big shot back on earth. Though now she's no better then us grunts." The sound other said.

"Pretty much" Irina replied in agreement. 'I suppose she's being modest, she could easily take these greenhorns.

"Come on you got to give her credit, what she did with the hand she was dealt. I mean that rookie, what was his name? Ah, Gwin, he can barely hold his own and yet she settled for him."

Irina looked agitated and put up her fists. I would have done worse, these two wouldn't survive back in the UNSC, they would be eaten alive for their arrogance and attitude. Elma moved in.

"Let it go Irina, they aren't worth it" she said attempting to cool the situation.

One of the idiots spoke again "Look, like a cute little puppy she does as she's told, just like their robot over there" I didn't bat an eye at the comment towards me, Irina did bat an eye.

"It's one thing to talk shit about me, it's another to bring my team and the Lieutenant into this, put'em up" she raised her fists as did the instigators. This is when I stepped forward.

"Didn't take you for a hot head lieutenant, I like it." Irina said, her mood changed when I drew my magnum and pointed it at the two agitators. They immediately looked to be regretting their actions. "Wait what are you doing? You can't just-" I switched the safety off as Irina spoke.

"Have you lost it Six?" Elma questioned but I didn't budge

"You're… you're not going to… you wouldn't!" one of them could barely speak as they both put their hands up in surrender.

"I will if I have too… do I have too?" I asked.

"Freeze maggots!" the booming voice of commander Vahndam rang out. I didn't turn but rather kept my sights firmly trained on the two idiots.

"You two, scram!" he ordered and they took off, it was only when they were completely out of sight that I holstered the magnum. When I turned I was greeted by a shocked Lin, a blank Irina, a pissed Elma, and a stern commander. Vahndam was the first to speak.

"Sorry about those two, boys got no discipline, though I'm a little surprised to see you in a street fight Elma."

"You're right, normally I would have ended it right away but I've known Irina for a while now, this was personal."

"No doubt, though I want to know what the hell was going through your head lieutenant. I commend you for sticking up for your fellow BLADE but you can't just point a gun at every idiot who runs their mouth."

He had a point. "I understand sir but this is survival. Everyone needs to understand that and I don't think those two realize that yet. That kind of behavior is going to get them killed one day." He seemed to know what I meant but Elma wasn't too happy.

"Next time Six, try to cool the tension rather then turn up the heat. What would have happened if those two idiots drew their weapons?"

"Then we'd have two less idiots." That made everyone go quiet. Lin flat out looked scared and Elma actually backed up a bit. "Like I said, everyone pulls their weight to survive, we cast our individuality aside for the greater good, those that don't aren't worth keeping around."

"You said your duty was to defend humanity, yet you'd kill a couple of humans just because they can't keep their mouths shut? Seems hypocritical doesn't it" Elma said. Once again, she was right, but if she knew the truth she'd understand.

'If she'll even believe the truth' I thought. I knew I had to respond or I might lose their trust "It won't happen again colonel, you have my word." I was expecting another lecture or a stern 'you better' look, but neither happened. She smiled at me.

"Good"

Irina then stepped forward "For what it's worth I thank you for your help." Her face then revealed a scowl she'd been hiding "I just can't stand men like that!"

"Neither can I" I replied

"You gonna be okay?" Lin asked finally finding her voice

"Just forget it, I'll be fine" I could tell Irina was frustrated so I opted to change the subject.

"Commander sir, you came out her for a reason?" I asked

"Actually I was looking for Elma" she turned to him and we received another mission. This time about clearing out several creatures that were causing trouble for other teams. Irina then decided to join us even though it was her day off which I commend her for, silently of course. I picked up my MA37 from the barracks before heading out with the rest of the squad.

…

Clearing out the last of the target creatures was trivial and I began to make my way out of the cave.

"Six, you copy?"

"Go ahead colonel."

"The rest of the squad is waiting for you in a clearing, I've marked our location."

"Copy that." I climbed up to the entrance and was greeted by the sun… and then a splitting headache. My vision began to go dark but I could still somewhat see in front of me. The pain was unlike anything I've felt before and that was saying something. Soon green flashes began to pop up and began to take the shape of a flickering green woman.

 _ **Could you sacrifice the future to regain your past? Could you watch it burn to save the one person who loved you?**_

That voice… it sounded so familiar. Just as quickly as the pain came, it was gone along with the flickering lady who looked and sounded familiar, so familiar that I swore I knew who she was, I just couldn't remember why. My vision returned to normal and I made my way to the rally point.

"Lieutenant, you okay!?" Irina called over the coms, her voice filled with concern

"I'm fine Irina, what's wrong?"

"You're vitals just flat lined."

"What?"

"You're fine now but your heart stopped for about 5 seconds."

"I don't know what to tell you Irina, I'm okay." The radio went quiet and I reached the rest of the team soon after. They all looked concerned and they were all staring at me. I really didn't want to deal with this but I could feel the question coming.

"What happened?" Elma asked. She was my new teammate and leader, what was I supposed to do, lie to her? I've done it before but I could tell she wouldn't buy any fib I came up with. Then I thought of Nia again and shook my head. It didn't take a more than a second to realize that Elma wasn't happy at all with that response and looked like she would press further when suddenly all of our com alarms went off.

"I was about to say, none of the creatures we ran into should have caused problems but another team just sent a distress call." Elma said

"Then lets go." Irina said as we ran off to the source of the distress call. Elma gave me a 'This isn't over look' before we started running again. We soon came across what looked to be a massive flying hummingbird… and two familiar jackasses.

"There's our real target." Irina stated

"Hey wait… those are the two that gave us a hard time earlier." Lin said

"Doesn't matter, lets give them a hand before they become lunch." Irina rushed off and Elma followed, Lin was hesitant but eventually joined them. That left me. Normally I would rush right in and help them all out… but I was hesitant. Those two had it coming and yet Irina stepped in and helped anyway despite being harassed by them. 'I guess even I still have somethings left to learn.' I equipped my AR and charged behind the pillar which the two BLADEs we cowering behind. They looked at me with horror in their eyes.

"You wanna live?" I asked and both nodded "Then stay down and watch, maybe you'll learn something" I opened fire on the flying nemesis while Elma was slashing at its underbelly. Irina began to open fire on its wings which proceeded to ground the target. I reloaded and dumped the entire mag into its face which split wide open, causing the creature to give off one last blood curdling scream before succumbing to death. The barrel was red hot and smoke was visible as I put it on the magnetic holster on my back. I walked back to the two men as they got their feet, the rest of the group joined me.

Irina was the first to speak "You two okay?"

"Yeah, you really saved our asses… listen, about earlier-"

"Forget it, just go home" her tone was demanding yet not angry. The two then ran off back to NLA. "Thanks for the help guys, we made a good team, not that we didn't before colonel."

"No problem Irina, if you ever need help, I'm here. Now back to what happened earlier."

I could tell she was talking about me "What happened in that cave Six?" I was on the spot with no way out now, yet I continued to say nothing until Irina spoke for me

"Maybe it's best if you leave him be on this one colonel, he clearly doesn't walk to talk about it."

"But I can't let it slide, if he has a condition that I don't know about-"

"It's not medical" I interrupted which got everyone's attention.

"Then what is it?" Elma pressed on

"Elma, you said that could trust you to carry some of the weight on my shoulders."

"Of course"

"Well I don't want to tell you because even I don't fully understand what happened in that cave. When I figure it out, I'll tell you but not now." She stared at me for a moment before nodding with a bit of a frown. I was beginning to trust her as she seemed to understand my thoughts without needing to know everything.

"Hey, how about we head back and I'll make us all lunch." Lin suggested and we all followed her back to NLA. While walking my mind wondered a bit

'My brain is telling me that I'm seeing things, that it was just a hallucination… my heart on the other hand, I haven't listened to it in a long time but it was telling me something else, something I couldn't believe but wanted to believe so badly… but she's been dead for years and to top it all off I'm in another universe entirely so it can't be… it just can't.' despite that conclusion I couldn't help but think of the false alternative.


	11. Chapter 9: The enemy of my enemy

**The enemy of my enemy**

*3 days earlier*

It wasn't the first time I had trouble sleeping and it wouldn't be the last. Of course I knew that it couldn't be true. My mother died when I was six. Not to mention I ended up dying and going to a whole new universe... so why? Why did I suddenly 'see' her and hear her voice? Was my brain torturing me? Trying to get me to want something I could never have? I ruled out the vision being a memory because she never asked me those questions... so what the hell was it? I sat up from the bed and looked over the room. I had gotten quite accustomed to this space which I now called home. It was basic, bare, and a bit of a mess due to the fact that my armor was scattered about, but that wasn't on my mind right now. I sat there in darkness, waiting for fatigue to drag me back to slumber... but it couldn't, not by itself. I lied down again and closed my eyes, I breathed in a normal pattern and tried to relax. Before I let myself drift one final thought came to my mind, a thought that I wasn't prepared for even though I was the one who conjured it.

'Mom... I miss you'

*2 days earlier*

When I woke up again the clock read 5 am. I decided that 6 hours was enough and began to put my armor back on. The hall was dimly lit as no one else was up. I opted to not disturb them and made my way out of the barracks. For the first time in a while I realized that I had no destination in mind. I could do morning PT like I used to with the ODSTs but then I thought of something I did need.

'If these SKELLS have taught me one thing is that I'm going to need heavy weapons sooner rather than later… I wonder if Alexa is up now.' I began to walk toward the SKELL hanger as that seemed like the most likely spot. The streets were mostly empty even though they were well lit. The three moons provided most of the light in the sky as I kept walking. I didn't bother to look at the moon this time, all it would do is remind of something I lost long ago. The main door was wide open but despite this it was mostly pitch black with the exception of a single dock that was illuminated in white light. As I approached, sparks began to fly from the lit area and I found who I was looking. Alexa's face was covered by a welding mask and was busy putting an armor plate back on the machine's leg. She then turned to me and put down her torch as she removed her mask. Her mocha face was covered in dirt, yet she had a beaming smile on her face.

"Hey Six! Didn't think anyone else was up this early, how are you?"

I decided to indulge her in small talk, but only once. "I'm fine Alexa, I had a feeling you would be up early to work, I was hoping you could make me another weapon."

"Sure, I'm game. What is it?" she asked, brimming with confidence. I pulled up the blue print and sent it to her. She received it immediately and he face lit up when she saw the weapon in question. "M41 Rocket launcher, you want a big gun huh? Well it may take a couple of days but I can get it done but you're gonna have to pay for this one."

"How much?"

"About 35,000 credits, which is pretty steep so-"

"Done" I transferred my acquired funds to her and she seemed shocked

"Damn… and they say I'm a workaholic, okay I'm gonna get started on this because something tells me you'll need this sooner rather than later."

I simply nodded and began to make my way back. The rays of this planet's sun began to peak over the horizon, giving the sky a faint red color. The return trip through the residential district went the same except there was one person who was out and about. It was a woman who had jet black hair and peach like skin. She took notice of me as I walked by and normally I would have paid her no mind but I gave her one quick glimpse and something strange caught my eye. I stopped and turned to face her. She had two different eye colors, one a crimson red while the other was a deep purple. She stared back at me in anticipation, like she was waiting for me to say something. In the end, she spoke first.

"Forgive me for staring but I've never seen you before." Her voice was soft and gentle… it reminded me of her.

"I'm new around here ma'am and I don't really come to this area often, I just pass through."

"Oh, well if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

That question was asked of me hundreds of times and every time I gave the same answer… so why was I hesitant all of a sudden. I've lied all the time, that was part if being a headhunter/black ops agent but now I had a sudden urge to tell the truth… why? I realized that I still hadn't answered and sought to correct that.

"Six, Noble Six." She seemed confused but went with it, then she smiled. "I should get going my team is going to think I've gone solo again." I turned and began to walk but then stopped and turned back. "Forgive ma'am, I never got your name"

"Hope, Hope Alanzi"

 ***Present Day***

Alexa seemed to be in a good mood today as she spent 5 minutes going over the specks of the launcher she had built in just a couple of days. I was actually surprised that she managed to perfectly replicate the weapon despite not having the same tools my humanity did.

"Now unfortunately I've only made 4 rockets so if you want it now you'll have to make your shots count."

"I always do" she then handed me the weapon which I then put on my back holster. I thanked the energetic outfitter before making my way back through the residential district. My com device began to go off. I took one look at the caller and answered. "Go ahead colonel."

"Six, we have a new assignment, get over to the barracks, I'll explain when you get here"

"Copy that." I hung up and made my way to the others 'Looks like I'll be testing the rockets sooner rather than later.'

…

I looked over the footage again. "What exactly are we looking at?" I asked as I kept an eye on the multiple ships on screen.

"This probe picked up multiple SKEELS firing at one ship which then crashed in the area known as Oblivia, that's a desert east of primordia. I want you to look at the attacking SKEELS." Elma then pulled up two 3 images. The first was extremely familiar to the second while the 3rd was entirely different. "The first is that ganglion SKELL you encountered in Noctilum, the second looks eerily similar to the SKELLS in Oblivia, and we aren't sure what the 3rd ship is but we do know is that it was putting up a fight against the ganglion."

"I'm assuming it isn't one of our ships."

"No, it looks alien in nature but that doesn't really matter. If they are fighting the ganglion maybe they can help us."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend… I never believed that saying." Everything went quiet for a moment and Elma looked concerned. Lin them jumped in.

"The ganglion were attacking that ship, friend or not we should help, we could gain an ally if we do." As much as I would have loved to argue against that point I couldn't. Maybe it's because I didn't want to correct a 13 year old girl or perhaps deep down I knew that she was right.

"I'll remind you again that not every alien is hostile towards us, I don't know what makes you think that every alien is against us."

'You will never know' I said to myself. "So what do you want to do colonel?"

"We're gonna head out to Oblivia and figure out what's going on. If possible we'll assist whoever the ganglion were attacking."

"That means don't go shooting just anything." Lin added with a slight chuckle. I was annoyed at that comment but I didn't let it bother me as I retrieved my DMR. Elma and Lin then geared up themselves. Tatsu then packed himself.

…

The change in environment was rather staggering even to me. From grassy plains and rock formations to sand, sand, and more sand. There was also a massive canyon and I could even see a few floating islands which was a little surprising.

"Welcome to sandy bum canyon." Tatsu said proudly

"Is that what the No-pon call it? We didn't have any names for it so we called it Oblivia" Elma responded. While they conversed, Lin and I moved up toward a large dune which thankfully was stable enough to go prone on, it allowed me to pull out my rifle and begin scanning the area. Lin then pulled out her com device and did some scanning of her own. The wind was beginning to die down and viability began to improve.

"See anything?" Lin asked

"No, I don't even see any sign of that ship."

"Well the probe is a bit farther out… wait"

I turned toward Lin "What is it?"

"I'm picking up something, Elma come here." The colonel and Tatsu came running as I stood up. "Listen to this." Lin brought up audio and video from one of the other probes. The camera showed 3 squid type creatures who were barely 2 feet tall. Their high pitch speech indicated their problem.

"It's impossible, the three of us against three anti-air crews? We'll be dead meat for the grexes."

"This isn't about us anymore! Everyone on the ship is counting on us to deal with those guns."

"Sounds like they could use our help. Lets head up that way" Elma said as she walked by. As we made our way through the sand I noticed that the colonel was deep in thought as we were walking.

"Something on your mind ma'am?" she turned with a rather surprised look, like she didn't expect me to ask.

"Well… it's just odd that those creatures are speaking English."

"Those creatures are called ma-non, No-pon trade with them on occasion but they not native to Mira" Tatsu added.

"Right, so how do they know English."

"Perhaps your translator is set to English, I know mine is." I said. The UNSC usually skipped out on translators except when it came to black ops agents.

"But we don't have translators. Wait, Tatsu, what language are we speaking?" Elma asked

"Language? Why No-pon of course. Friends No-pon is very good too."

"So we hear him in our language but he hears us in his…" Elma went back into deep thought. At this point I stopped caring about that topic and moved to the task at hand.

"We can figure that out later colonel"

"Right lets go" we made our way through the dust and sand. I could see lin sweating profusely as she kept trudging along. I handed her the canteen I had stored in the suit.

"Where do you even find room for this?" she asked as she tried looking me over.

"You'd be surprised how many pockets this shell has." We then got close to the ma-non and I prepared my DMR. Elma didn't look to happy when I did that. "You do the talking but I'm not letting any of them out of my sight yet." She reluctantly nodded and approached the group of ma-non along with lin while I stayed back and kept my sights trained on them. They seemed to panic at first but them quickly calmed down when Tatsu jumped in. After a few minutes Elma walked up to me.

"Okay first thing I should say is that they don't like the ganglion anymore then we do and they'll be willing to help us if we can save their ship."

Of course I was suspicious at first, I had to be. 'Well I guess if they really are desperate enough to trust complete strangers then maybe I should give them the benefit of the doubt.' I nodded signaling for her to go on.

"Their ship was damaged and forced to land inside the canyon. They've completed the repairs but they can't take off because the ganglion set up 3 anti-air guns around the canyon, we need to take them out so they can get to NLA."

"You gave humanity's location to them?"

"Look…" she looked tired and exasperated "I know it's risky but we need to work together, on our own humanity will fall." She had no idea how true those words rung to me.

"I'm sorry, what do you need me to do?"

She seemed stunned by my statement, like she was surprised by the complete 180 I pulled. "I need you to take the second gun south of here. Lin and I will deal with the first and we'll all regroup to take out the third." Her eyes shifted to the launcher on my back "Looks like you've got some heavy artillery, that should make your job easier." I nodded and she gave me a simple "good luck" before turning and heading off with Lin into the desert wastes.

 **[Play: Farthest outpost-Halo 3 ost]**

 **3** **rd** **POV**

Six drew his rifle and went off in the opposite direction of his team leader. It was then that he became completely focused on the task at hand. The heat and sand had no effect on him due to the MJOLNIR armor. The massive prints he left behind could have been considered a preview of what was to come. Despite the massive differences, Six couldn't help but make a comparison between Oblivia and Azod back on Reach. He tried to put out the thought out but it kept coming back like a wild fire. 'I've spent my life fighting aliens and yet here I am helping some.' The thought made his blood boil until he remembered 'No, I'm not just helping aliens, I'm assisting humanity at the same time.' Despite that thought, Six still didn't like what he was doing but he suppressed those emotions as he continued to trudge through the sand. Several grexes ran by without even paying the Spartan a glance almost like they knew what happened to the last group that tried to deal with him. Meanwhile the anti-air crew had no idea that certain doom was approaching them, they just kept their eyes on the sky until the crack of Six's DMR sent one of the crew to the dirt. The others turned and frantically scanned for the threat yet Six just kept nailing the stationary targets. Every squeeze of the trigger ended one of the ganglion and before the clip was even half empty, the crew were all staining the sand with their purple blood which reminded Six of the Elites he used to fight. He smirked under the helmet 'they weren't nearly as hard as elites though' he pulled out the M41 and took aim at the spherical AA gun. One rocket knocked the armor clean off and exposed the power core. The super soldier decided to conserve the second rocket and unloaded the rest of his DMR clip into the glowing core, which caused it to go haywire and explode, sending the gun plummeting into the canyon. Another explosion followed across the canyon, signaling that Elma and Lin had dealt with the second gun.

"Alright target one is down, Six?"

"Gun two is down colonel."

"Good, one to go."

"Race you there Six!" lin called over the com.

'A race huh?' Six took off toward the final target. The sand started flying upward into the air as the wind picked up again. The dust and dirt was enough to obscure the blue warrior as he approached his next target. The brief dust storm made the crew easy pickings, especially when lin started unloading her gauss cannon and Elma cut down any others. She then placed a pack of explosives on the gun and blew it sky high. The group didn't celebrate long as more explosions occurred in the distance. They took off toward the scene.

The group of ma-non were surrounded by three SKELL's that threatened to end them if they did not join the ganglion. Six was the first to arrive and immediately fired the remaining shot in his first clip of rocket ammo. The rocket contacted the 'face' of the machine before the explosion cause some of the armor to be blown clean off. Six then sprinted toward the fallen SKELL while the other two were attacked by lin and Elma. Six ran up onto the metallic back of the beast as it stood up. The blue warrior began to throw punches to the armor, causing it to cave in and spark as he began to hit vital parts. After enough haymakers, the cockpit was exposed and the pilot was in total shock when he was pulled out of their vehicle and smashed against the outer hull, drawing blood. Six then threw the pilot into the canyon trench, never to be seen again. Six them reloaded the rocket launcher, only to realize that it wasn't necessary as Lin had disabled one of the SKELLS while Elma had slid under of the machines, leaving an explosive present which then destroyed the enemy SKELL.

 **Six POV**

The dust had begun to settle down and Elma began to gather the ma-non which had scattered. I double checked the final SKELL, just to be sure, but the moment I got close my head thumped with pain. My eyes had gone dark again and a familiar green flash began to replace my normal eyesight. The light took a the faint shape of a ponytailed women.

 _ **You became the one thing I never wanted you to turn into. For that, I'm sorry. One day I'll make it up to you.**_

The vision ended and the pain was gone. I didn't have time to think after it was over as I was sent flying a few feet and the warning alarm was going off. The SKELL had just blasted me. Red, that's all I saw was red as I pulled out the launcher and fired both rockets in quick succession. The impact sent the mech flying in a blaze to the bottom of the canyon. My wolf instincts had taken over for a brief moment. Lin came running up.

"Six, you okay?!"she looked to be panicked and even a tear made itself visible.

"Why are you crying Lin?" she stopped and did something I wasn't expecting, she hugged me. At least, she tried to, her arms couldn't reach around the armor completely.

"You took a SKELL laser at point blank range, I thought…" the words died on her lips and she just tried to suck in air. Elma walked up and put a hand on lin and I. I followed her gaze to my chest where the armor was freshly scared. There was a glowing burn mark where the blast hit me yet it did its job as my HUD showed that I had taken no health damage. I wiped off the ash and found that part of the blue paint had been burned off, revealing the steel colored titanium.

"Six…" Elma's voice was the softest I've ever heard. "Are you hurt?"

"No, the blast only broke the shield" as I said that the orange glow of the shield was restored as it finally recharged. "I'm fine ma'am."

"It happened again didn't it?"

"Come again?"

"You just stopped and clinched your head before you got shot. You also seem a little shocked and in thought, this is just like what happened in the cave, isn't it?"

I knew there was no use lying "Yes, it did happen again. Can I ask you a question ma'am?"

"Go ahead"

"Have you ever wanted something so bad but know that you can never have it?" she said nothing. How could anyone after that? 'What am I supposed to say? That I feel like I'm having visions of my mother?... fuck it' "I think I'm having visions."

Elma then asked that question "Visions of what?"

"My mother" not a word was said after that, the only sound being the wind that continued to blow dirt around. We just walked back with the ma-non… or at least we tried. Another headache hit me, worse then last time and the flickering lady came back.

 _ **Flesh wounds heal but the scars of losing family never leave**_

The vision didn't end and I bit my lip to numb the pain, it only made me taste blood.

 _ **I carry your same scars, I know what it's like to think of yourself self as nothing but a weapon, because I felt the same.**_

My vision blacked out completely and I felt myself collapse.

 ***2 hours later***

My eyes felt heavy as I began to hear two voices, one clearly belonging to Elma.

"All I want to know is if he's going to be okay."

"And all I can tell you is that he's okay right now and perhaps his collapse was caused by dehydration."

"You don't believe me?"

"It's hard to believe Elma, I'm a doctor not a psychiatrist."

I sat up slowly and opened my eyes reveling the two women. Elma then crouched to my level. "How are you holding up?"

I took off my helmet and looked her in the eye "I've gone through much worse then simple headaches Elma."

"Six!" Lin came running in from the door. Her face seemed stained from tears. "Are you okay? Do you need water? Is there anything-"

"Lin stop"

"We've lost enough, don't you add yourself to that list!" she all but screamed through her tears. I stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders and I'm not sure what came over me but I took a page out of the book of an old psycho teammate.

"Hey! Straighten up soldier!" lin was surprised and Elma looked a little shocked. Lin's lips were still quivering but her crying had stopped. "Stiffen up that upper lip! What are you crying for? You got me." 'The hell do I mean by that?' Lin started to breath normally as I pated her shoulder. "I'm okay Lin, you have to trust me on that." She took one last deep breath and nodded before smiling.

"Glad to have you back Six." I rubbed her head a little which wasn't something I really did.

"Thanks Lin" I turned to Elma and the doctor "Sorry for being a burden doc"

"You're okay lieutenant, now drink this." She handed me a bottle of water which I took with care and drank almost instantly. "Now I'm no psyche expert but if these visions continue then you need to go see a mediator."

"I understand"

"Good, colonel he's all yours." With that she left me with lin and Elma.

"So how do you get me here without taking off my armor?"

"We called for VTOL help, even then we had to drag you into the cargo bay. How do you even get around with how heavy that armor is?" Lin asked.

I crouched down and showed her the neural implant in the back of my neck. "My brain is connected to the suit. To keep it simple, I don't move the armor, the armor moves with me."

"Wow!" Lin's childlike smile returned which made me relax a bit. I stood up and Elma led us back to the residential district. The group of ma-non then took notice of me.

"Are you okay? You took a nasty hit."

'An alien asking about a Spartan's well being, don't hear that everyday' "I'll be fine, the blast didn't cause any real damage, it just broke through the shield. I'm fine."

"Thank goodness, you really saved our tails back there, it'd be a shame if we couldn't repay humanity for what you did." One said before the director general stepped in.

"The ma-non have agreed to work with us from now on. As a result they will now call NLA home as well, do you have any objections to that lieutenant?"

"No sir" a few days ago I would have had a problem, but as the old saying has been proven true 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

 **AN: Do you have any idea how long this took? Too long.**


End file.
